#just a funny coincidence on a cosmic level

[tuif]

@boxowo why is this happening, this is roughly the 6th mouthwashing thing on my dash, I've found the playthrough I wanna watch and added it to my watch later but that's it!

i hope this hurts

[tielesiti-eftu]

hey so remember when I posted a while back about stealing a character design from AI slop

this is Celia Whiterose and the art was somehow one of the last things I made in the process of making her. in between making the art, I wrote a fuckload of lore and character info. gonna paste a bunch of it under the cut

✨~haiiiiiii~✨

okay so. the lore I'm working with right now is that Celia used to be the Proper Actual Queen of Hearts in her Wonderland. aesthetics-wise for that Wonderland, I'm picturing a vibe like a mix of the Disney movie and the Tim Burton movie because Lol™. this Wonderland exists alongside a so-called "real" world, otherwise known as Fantasy Earth, and humans aren't able to see an entrance to Wonderland unless someone from Wonderland goes through it. the only Wonderland citizens that are able to go between the worlds freely are the royal family and anyone with one of their pocket watches. Celia, being The Queen, qualifies for that. she ran away into the real world after a mass breakout of a curse-disease-thing called "Unreality Madness," believing it would be the only way to be safe from it and potentially find a solution. she disguised herself (mostly by shrinking herself down to not be ridiculously tall) and left for the real world, where she lived for a long time. she tried to tell people about what happened, hoping for a solution, but people don't tend to believe that a parallel world exists that they can theoretically go to when they can't even see the entrances freely, and Celia was afraid to go back for fear of being (probably rightfully) called out for running away, so she just Didn't. she has depression because of it. her belief is that if she can get close enough with someone in the real world, maybe they'll believe her and she can try to fix the mess she left behind. unfortunately, a continuous streak of bad luck and cosmic joke coincidences routinely keeps that from happening.

some specifics on Unreality Madness: it's something that makes Wonderland citizens effectively disappear, dubbed "becoming not real," after going through extreme mood changes. stage 1 is always severe mania, and stage 2 varies between individual cases, but it's always able to be boiled down to experiencing one emotion at extreme levels, and different subsets have different titles (sadness would be Bawling Madness, depression would be Muted Madness, anger would be Fuming Madness, etc). the only thing that isn't a possible result is more mania. stage 3 is more or less a toned-down version of the person's normal self, but this is the point where they start to believe they may not be real, and this feeling gets worse as the stage progresses. if someone in stage 3 is fully convinced they aren't real anymore, they go into stage 4, which sees them actually becoming not real; this can be postponed by generally being around other people that believe they're real, but the funny thing about believing you aren't real is that you start believing others aren't real either, so if a large group of Wonderland residents came down with stage 4 Unreality Madness, then things tend to get a bit less exist-y pretty fast. once a person with Unreality Madness has been in stage 4 for long enough to also believe nobody else is real around them, and nobody around them believes they're real either, they vanish. technically, stages 3 and 4 can last indefinitely if at least one person without Unreality Madness regularly interacts with them.

personality-wise, Celia is very muted after everything that's happened to her. she's also very particular about time; if you agree to meet her for something, and you don't show up, she's going to find out why. she has a seemingly endless supply of pocket watches, which she uses as mementos to give to people that she considers friends. the watches themselves have some other properties; particularly, if you break one, you can temporarily project yourself back in time as a ghost, so you can see what happened but not affect things. Celia specifically is also able to break these with her bare hand, then jam that hand against a corpse to resurrect the person as something from Wonderland. she also has various props and treats from Wonderland; cookies that make you grow, small drink bottles that shrink you, paints that can alter the natural color of plants or animals, pipes with smoke that forms into letters, and so on. Celia can also create normal versions of any of these items without any effects, with a notable exception being her checkerboard cookies; unlike the frosted lofthouse cookies she can make, the checkerboard cookies are always just normal cookies.

the bracelets she wears are made of metal, and are able to transform into gauntlets similar to brass knuckles. Celia doesn't normally have to use them, hence why they turn into bracelets when they aren't deployed. these bracelet-gauntlets cannot be removed, as they are also her royal scepter, an heirloom passed down to the next-in-line when the acting ruler of Wonderland is unfit to rule anymore. it ordinarily isn't supposed to be altered in any way, but due to the current circumstances in Wonderland, Celia is giving herself some leeway. so long as it doesn't leave her side, it's fine in her book.

around people she feels safe around and truly cares about, Celia may remove her disguise and re-enter her normal form, a completely on-demand transformation that Celia performs when she feels like she has nothing to hide from. Queen of Hearts Celia is four times larger than her disguise and sports a different outfit, as well as her having a generally more cheerful default mood. her fur becomes pure white, her eyes change shape somewhat, the colors of her eyes shift around, the somewhat muted blues of her dress have shifted to vibrant reds and blacks, her dress has grown larger and now goes down to her ankles, her socks have changed to be red-and-black stripes with a black sole and red pawpads, her scepter regains its normal form, and the lofthouse cookies she produces have changed shape to appear like card suits (the checkerboard cookies remain unchanged). she now walks with a much more pronounced bounce on every step, and one can often see the latest winner of this royal rabbit's trust peeking from the front pocket of her dress. Queen of Hearts Celia has more control over the world around her, with enhanced time control by using her scepter that allows her to physically go forward and backwards in time temporarily, along with now being able to shape and transform it to mirror her Wonderland as she desires. this world-altering ability, which she calls "Wonderland Shift," is similar in execution to resurrecting someone as a Wonderland creature, but it now extends to non-sentient objects around her and even living people as opposed to only the recently-passed. Queen of Hearts Celia is also physically unable to harm things or people without intent; any building or infrastructure damaged by mistake is repaired by it automatically going backwards in time, passerby who fail to notice her approach and become trampled rise moments later without even a bruise, and so on. on the flipside, she is much more wrathful if upset, leaping into the air and growing thorny rose vines from the ground to ensnare and choke people that make her angry, sometimes even beheading them if she deems the transgression worthy of death. often, she reverts to her disguised form after the anger fades into apathy, and it tends to take some time for her to be able to return to her Queen of Hearts form.

[flamechasr]

22, 27 (elysia), & 42 (haru)!!!!

(22) — most recent memory

MUELSYSE ; i didn't really understand the stars until kristen. because, well, i was studying nature on terra and she's obsessed with stars. so it used to be me, her, and saria on starlit nights - we'd talk about our dreams and kristen in particular wanted to reach outer space, when i for one just wanted some place beyond this world to call home. actually i never found out what saria's dreams were, but i had a feeling it's closely connected to kristen's. i mean, they were always together, while i sorta forced myself in with them. there was even a time kristen said saria's like a star, so i said “then you're the moon and i'm the sun because i'm hot” (we were younger then, but saria laughed a little so i won)

(27) — your partners and something you loved about them

ELYSIA ; I LOVE MY GIRLFRIENDS SO MUCH ♡♡♡ firstly my perfect lovy eden - i love love everything about her (corny) but she was the most beautiful woman i'd ever seen with an angelic voice and so mature too! i remember sitting with her in the studio as she wrote songs and i'd listen attentively, giving her my highest compliments as tactical flirting though i could never figure out if they ever fazed her. she was always level-headed and reliable, and i kinda needed someone like that in my life since i tended to get ahead of myself. some kevin saw me as “childish” but eden never chastised me for it and even said that my positivity was a precious thing and i'll never forget that. she brings the best out of me! then there was mei - dear mei, with her cold disposition... i love girls who act hard to get so it didn't matter at all how many times she tried to brush me off! she was bound to fall in love with me, i mean, who could resist a cute girl like me? <3 funny thing is that i didn't mean to fall for her at first, i was just flirting for fun. oopsies. she had her own struggles but she was strong-hearted, it's really admirable! also, she tries not to, but she cares a lot. i guess that could be a weakness but i love all of her flaws too! she was... everything i loved about humanity.

(42) — favorite image of HARU

jokes it's me in kimono!! i'm in love with the camellia headpin

and also! this is technically a tsugumi pic but i just think it's SO funny that she was haru for the afterglow x p5 collab. i love cosmic coincidences

[delicateteenagerunaway]

I have entered a rabbit hole of synastry...

So, I recently fell down the fascinating rabbit hole of astrology and decided to dive headfirst into the mystical world of synastry! Buckle up because I've stumbled upon an astrological discovery that's blowing my mind! 🌟✨ Turns out, according to the cosmic dance of the stars, my birth chart is compatible with none other than Boyd Holbrook's chart! 🔮

I know, it sounds like a delightful delusion, but bear with me!

Disclaimer: Before we dive in, let me make it clear that my calculations are based on wild speculation about Boyd Holbrook's birth chart (which can be found here: https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Boyd_Holbrook ). But hey, let's have some fun with it, shall we?

So, after some playful chart comparisons, I couldn't help but notice some intriguing alignments between our celestial signatures. It's like the stars conspired to create some cosmic connections that are too amusing to ignore! 😄🔮

For starters, before I started diving more into synastry, I already had some hints of compatibility in our charts such our Venus, Mars and Rising signs matching one another (based on his chart he’s an Aquarius Rising while I am an Aquarius Venus and he’s a Cancer Mars while I am a Cancer Rising). These aspects in astrology can indicate that basically he embodies the ideal of beauty for me, while his Mars indicates strong attraction to the energy of my rising. However, our Sun / Mercury signs are in opposition, which can hint at a love-hate type of situation (the downfall of being with your sister sign). Furthermore, our Moons, Venus, and Jupiter placements seem to be in a celestial symphony of harmony by conjuncting one another. It's like the universe is saying, 'Hey, you two, here's a cosmic recipe for emotional connection and artistic understanding!' 🌙💖✨

Now, here's where it gets interesting. As I explored the houses, I couldn't help but notice that some of his placements seem to fall right into my fourth house. It's like a cosmic hug of comfort! His sun in my fourth house, conjunction with my Virgo IC, which brings a sense of familiarity and warmth (potentially explains why I find him to be such a comfort person).

And let's not forget the planets that reside in our eighth and fifth houses. It's as if the universe is nudging us towards mutual understanding in artistic endeavors and emotional bonds.

Call it starry coincidence or just pure cosmic mischief, but I'm totally embracing my astrological delusions from here on out! So, I'm strapping on my imaginary starry boots and surrendering to the whimsical dance of the planets. Let's embrace the magic, the laughter, and the sweet enchantment that astrology can bring into our lives! After all, who needs reality when you can revel in the playful wonders of the universe?

Now, I must make it clear that all of this is good fun and pure speculation. I'm not about to give up on life and become delusional solely for the sake of astrology compatibility, even if it feels like a Pedro Pascal-level crush. 😅 That being said, I want to take a moment to emphasize my respect for Boyd Holbrook's personal life and his relationship with his wife (to whom I own my life because she’s the one providing with constant updates of our boy).

While astrology can be an entertaining exploration, it's essential to remember the boundaries of reality and respect the commitments and relationships of others. Love and connection come in many forms, and we can appreciate the cosmic alignments without crossing any lines.

It's truly fascinating and funny how our charts seem to have some compatible aspects. Let's celebrate the whimsy of astrology, embrace the magic of connections, and enjoy this delightful cosmic dance! It does give some insight was to why we might like certain public personalities and honestly, I feel that can be something cute of course if done in its limits.

Remember, this is all about having a good laugh, finding joy in the mysterious, and exploring the playful wonders of the universe. So, let's embrace the fun, revel in the starry tales, and keep the cosmic relations alive! 💫💕✨"

[robotoooo]

Spoilers for both Phoenotopia Awakening and LunarLux

I find it funny that I've now played two games where:

The protagonist is a pink-haired 17(-ish) year old girl living in a society founded in the aftermath of a calamity that rendered Earth uninhabitable.

She is aided by a robot companion that hacks machines and can be spoken to at any time for guidance on where to go.

At some point, she realizes that she is somehow different than an average human, and this makes her uniquely qualified to resolve the second conflict.

There are two separate conflicts that are indirectly related to one another, one is introduced in the beginning and kicks off the adventure, the other is introduced about halfway through and goes to the end of the game.

Though the second conflict is resolved by the end, the first is left conspicuously unresolved as a sequel hook.

The villains of this theoretical sequel are implied to be a antagonistic cosmic group known for destroying planets.

Near the end, the protagonist has an emotional revelation about the nature of her mother's absence.

The main antagonist is fought multiple times, but one of the fights does not have to be won.

One of the final levels is a secret lab where most of the game's enemies were made.

And if we're willing to be way less specific:

The antagonist has black hair

The protagonist can equip various different colored outfits.

Overworld fights can be avoided easily.

The soundtrack will blow your penis clean off.

There's a flower related sidequest.

Just some funny coincidences I noticed.

[textual-deviant-blog]

Haven't seen anyone talk about the heat death of the universe, lately.

- Ai-generated piece by user 'Darwhim.ai', "Mortal Redemption"

I'm hoping to eventually study the science behind that theory, get some knowledge that will help me in my writing, but for now I just want to provoke the idea some more.

When you give it some thought, it's possibly, at once, one of the most terrifying and trite things in existence. We'll never live long enough to ever have it affect us in any way, but the fear behind it is the inexorable quality it has; the inevitable erasure of everything we've built up, as a species, as a society, as an individual.

It is the Alpha and Omega of science fiction, one of the greatest existential crises people experience, and... again, none of us will ever live long enough that it matters.

As I sit here at my desk, pondering consciousness and all manner of things, the thought that people have gone mad over this, the thought that people have let their lives be destroyed by this notion? It's ridiculous, in the same manner that people still crying over the towers collapsing, every year, on that fateful date, feels ridiculous.

Everyone who more easily disconnects from the thoughts that bring them pain views these sorry individuals with pity. It's funny, because everyone barring the most sociopathic at least felt a passing terror over them. It's a universal experience, and something we universally ignore.

Some may, instead, have optimistic theories of their own, the Big Crunch being the most well known. We want to feel optimistic about a future we'll never see, the matter of how realistic or supported that future is by what we know... being somewhat irrelevant.

This isn't a psychological analysis. The conclusion I've been dancing around is that, does it matter? If it matters to you, the reader, on an emotional level, shouldn't you do something about it? Can't? Then, why? Is it because you feel a moral obligation? Or, it's just a sad reality to live in? Sir, madam, or gentleperson who lies in between, should it matter if your life remains unaffected in everything but the cognition of it alone? Because you think it's terrible that such a cosmic thing lies beyond your control?

Sometimes things just happen. For no reason at all. In a world with control, a man wouldn't die after hitting his head on a sidewalk. The one-in-a-billion prion wouldn't just kill you after living a long, prosperous life. A pulsar wouldn't have any chance, no matter how small, to accidentally blast us from across the universe. A meteor couldn't escape the grasp of Jupiter and instead aim for our civilization of everything.

...there's a sort of beauty to it, however. One of the greatest paradoxes, greatest pieces of dichotomy our existence has to offer. In a world with control, a man tripping wouldn't have that tiny, tiny chance to result in meeting the woman who would eventually become your mother. A scientist wouldn't get to study one of the most deadly organisms on the planet, and gush about how silly the series of coincidences in our physiology are to even let this poor thing have a tiny, tiny chance to kill us. We couldn't learn about things like pulsars; couldn't awe at how terribly energetic and magnificent they are, elements the size of mountains radiating beams trillions of miles long.

Nobody would ever write a novel about a meteor hitting Earth, the protagonist either saving the planet or having mere hours- perhaps even less- to face the totality of existence. It might be written well, it may be written terribly; but it would be written nonetheless. If there was no meteor, no great crisis, no great existential dread, no great confrontation, so much of the human experience would just be living, existing, perhaps not even breathing.

Would we dream of death, then? Would we think of the thrills that would result from just being mortal? Would we think about all the things we wouldn't do, for fear of death? In a world where mortality is the standard, we'll never have these thoughts- not truly. Perhaps in another universe, but that's a line of dialogue unto it's own.

Ultimately, without mortality, what would we mortals be?

What do you think?

-

Sometimes I fancy age advancing upon me. One gray hair I have found. Fool! do I lament? Yes, the fear of age and death often creeps coldly into my heart; and the more I live, the more I dread death, even while I abhor life. Such an enigma is man -- born to perish -- when he wars, as I do, against the established laws of his nature.

- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 1833: The Mortal Immortal.

[lagomoz]

being a cis person with a lot of trans friends who did take the time to genuinely think about my gender has put me another level. cis 2: electric boogaloo type deal. I’m not a girl because some fuckass doctor said so I’m one because I said so and it’s my gender so I get to choose, I just so happened to choose what most people assume.

I have long hair and wear skirts and paint my nails because I like those things, but I don’t wear any makeup or heels because I don’t like those. I have interests that are traditionally feminine like art or animals and I also have interests that are traditionally masculine like video games or science because I don’t pick my interests based on arbitrary nonsense categories. 

I’m a girl but not a woman, I’m not male in any way but sure I’m one of the boys, a bro, a dude, but not a tomboy, I’m not a lady unless it’s funny, I’m a king and a queen, a herbo not a bimbo, I’m not nonbinary or even particularly gender non-conforming I am just fucking ballin over here

society said “you’re a girl. you have a vagina so you’re a girl” and okay I am a girl but you only got that right by coincidence, my crotch or tits have nothing to do with this. right answer completely wrong equation. I’m not a girl because I have to be, not because of my body, not because of my upbringing, not because of some cosmic force, but because I am the one and only person who gets to pick and I wanted to pick girl

[bluemoonpunch]

I just discovered your website and fell in love with your readings! I love how you give your insights and your approach to the reading. One thing I want to ask is does the group energy reading represent the energy of the group at the time of the reading, or just the energy as the group exists? This is mostly towards the Stray Kids group reading. I'm curious, because as a fan watching them from afar, I think there has been a dynamic shift among them. (1/2)

(2/2)This is not me asking you to do another reading for them though, and I also believe it's not the time yet. They are still in the middle of a shift that is not yet ripened. They are going to join a survival show with big exposure this year too, so they might drastically change as a group after that. On a totally unrelated note though, I let out the ugliest wheeze as you refer to page of wands as the Signature Jungkook' Card.

📕 Referencing:

Stray Kids Group Energy Analysis Part 1 (2018)

Stray Kids Group Energy Analysis Part 2 (2021)

A: Yes, any reading I do should be looked at as more of a "snapshot" of the state of things there at the moment of doing the reading, which is why I always provide the date that the reading was performed as well as when the reading was posted as I can sometimes do bigger readings a week or so in advance. I've done two different group energy readings for Stray Kids and there is a noticeable change between them, but, for example, before the first group reading for them I posted, I had done the reading a couple of times before that and got a lot of negativity which didn't really change that much between those first couple of readings.

It's good to keep in mind that with group energy readings, I look at what the individuals project into the group, which is sometimes a lot different from the general energetic projection of the individuals separate from the group. I then look at how those projections mix together, how they interact with each other, which can vary between conscious level interaction and energetic interaction. Then, after all that, I look at the overall projection, the general ~vibe~ of the group as a whole, how they function as a unit, what they are able to produce physically or energetically through the group projection. It can be quite complex and fluid, but there are many factors to take into consideration, so just because some things seem different doesn't always mean that things have changed in terms of their energetic balance and connection.

Of course, major changes in career or how things are done superficially in relation to their work and routine, as well as any dynamic changes with members leaving or even changes in contracts, can alter the energetic projection of the individuals and change up the overall balance of the group. So, for sure, in the future, I'll probably look into them again if there's a demand for it, but yeah, they do need some time to settle into new things before anything would come up as being different.

XXXX

Q: thank you for the reading!! I'm glad that there has been progress for them personally, that was good to see. I've been getting that vibe from them and it seemed like taehyung's core was no longer split so I'm glad that it actually isn't. I hope that even with the not-so-good energy that they'll be okay. the end of the reading had me feeling kind of 😔 it would make sense if it has something to do with any kind of enlistment. im hoping it's not disbandment. im aware it could happen but it'll still hurt lol i just want them to be happy either way =( but thanks again -Anonymous @ BMP Tumblr

📕 Referencing:

BTS OT7 2021/2022 Outlook Reading

A: Yeah, the reading was a bit of a bummer toward the end, but overall things were relatively balanced for them as individuals on a more personal level. However, I do think we're seeing a lot of that general tension now with how a lot of fans are responding to the new music, specifically their last three releases. I'm sure that's stirring up some debate and conversation behind the scenes both with the group and the company overall. So, it seems like one of those things where work-life can be a bit stressful going forward, but personal work and personal life for them can be relatively smooth and enjoyable, which can be more rewarding in the long run.

XXXX

Q: oh wow, I did not expect ur 2022 outlook to hit me that hard lol, I was hoping for something more positive for BTS but on the other hand they have been doing all this for over a decade so it's natural for it to finally come to close. still feeling emotional tho hahah -Anonymous @ BMP Tumblr

A: Same, honestly. 😥 But yeah, it tends to be a natural progression for a lot of artists that get that big, almost as if their careers grow past them and they just ride the wave the rest of the way. Still, a fascinating thing to watch play out over the years, definitely something to appreciate and be proud of.

XXXX

Q: love love love your dream and georgenotfound reading! I agree dream's reading is especially interesting, and an individual analysis on either of them would be amazing!! -Anonymous @ BMP Tumblr

Q: This might sound crazy but I read your tarot reading on DNF and remembered you mentioning Cecil? I'm watching their geoguessr stream happening live rn and just saw them go past a sign that said Cecil. I thought that was a funny coincidence -Anonymous @ BMP Tumblr

Q: Hi! All of your readings are so well written and I loved your reading you did on Dream and George and I was wondering if you could do a reading on Dream. You mentioned maybe doing one. -@glimmercherr

📕 Referencing:

How do GeorgeNotFound and Dream connect?

A: Yes, most likely I'll be doing an Elemental Alignment reading for Dream at some point and maybe I'll include some stuff about his birth chart as he has some underlying cosmic imprinting that I think is really interesting. And yeah, coincidences like that are my favorite, just the little things that pop up that seem to tie things together in a funny way, lol. I'm sure there's always some underlying meaning to it somehow.

XXXX

Can you do a mini reading on jimin and jungkook? Whether it’s more equal now? Idk maybe because I am a Pisces I have been able to read other people’s vibes (I call them ) better I am no expert but I feel jimin thinks of jungkook as like an individual grown-up but still would always see himself as a protector kinda like powder siblings too? Also because this doesn’t show up consciously Like they always seem like equal and above sand all in behind the scenes too? Can you explain or clarify if I am right? -Anonymous @ BMP Tumblr

A: Yes, things are definitely more equal now. There's a very interesting progression for them that plays out energetically and even as deeply as on a soul level, lining up with their personal development and separation from the Soul Body. Of course, with Jimin being older and having had known Kook for so long, I have no doubt that no matter what, some part of him would always feel protective of Kook, the only difference is that Kook is in a headspace now where he can be protective back, be more of an equal support for Jimin right back. And, I agree, behind the scenes when they're not performing and not "in character," they can definitely display more of that equalizing push and pull, more so reflecting their energetic connection on a conscious and physical level, which tends to show a very strong soul bond that is being supported on both sides.

If you haven't already, I recommend reading these readings in order as they can really display that development between them over the past few years:

Relationship Reading for Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook P1 (2018)

Relationship Reading for Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook P2 (2020)

The Internal Alignment of Park Jimin (2020)

How do Jimin and Kook connect? (2021)

[marimo-o]

ok so im making a long ass post about Abzu (the game) within the context of mesopotamian mythology because I'm insane. It's gonna be a doozy and likely incomprehensible so <3 below the cut it goes! There's gonna be TONS of spoilers for the game, and, like, I guess for the mesopotamian creation epic, so. Play Abzu if you haven't and if you wanna read the Enuma Elish that's also cool. Good for u

(a note from afterwards: it's long. like, REALLY fucking long, holy shit. if you actually want to read the whole thing, be. prepared or something idk take breaks! the last two paragraphs (i know they're walls of text pls bear with me) contain most of the important information. like, the final hurrah of my brain after working on this for multiple hours! So if u wanna save time and avoid some of the redundancy, just skip to those last two <3)

So "Abzu" referred to two things; the fresh water people got from underground aquifers (also as the void-sea which was underneath the Sumerian underworld, Kur), and the deity; he only appeared in the creation story, Enuma Elish, because a big part of that whole thing was that oh no! He dies! And that's also a thing I'm gonna touch on (sorry about the lack of accent marks in advance, it's not available on my current keyboard^ ^;)

I'm gonna start off with a brief tale of what happened with Abzu the deity, and then move onto how both the deity and the concept relate to the game!

So like I mentioned, Abzu the deity only really appears in the creation myth. The story goes that the Primordial Soup divided into two beings, with Abzu representing the freshwater and Tiamat being the saltwater. They were married, and together birthed some of the first formative gods! Some of these gods, jealous of Abzu's power convinced Tiamat to kill him (or, I thought it was started by Tiamat growing resentful of the younger gods, one of those). Either way, Abzu was killed, and Tiamat ended up lashing out, creating the first "dragons", or perhaps becoming one herself; with "poison instead of blood". She is killed by Marduk, the god of storms and the child of Enki (one of the first gods created by Abzu and Tiamat), and from her body the heavens and the earth are formed. Imagine getting killed by ur grandson lol cringe /j

Now! The waters itself! This also brings Enki into the equation, who kinda took over as god of the waters in place of his dead father. He's also the god of creation, intelligence, crafts, mischief, and more! Very important guy.

Abzu refers to both the groundwater reservoirs that people depended on for both accessible clean water and for some agricultural work, and also to the void-sea beneath the underworld, where it is said that Enki rests. He had a temple at Eridu, a now-ruined city, and I remember hearing somewhere that he lived in a temple in an underground aquifer? But I can't find wherever I read that anymore so don't take my word for it. Anyway, the basics of Enki as a deity is: child of Tiamat and Abzu, widely worshipped in his time, god of the waters, generally a cool and important dude.

And now. Finally. We move onto the game. My head hurts.

So, for a quick (post-writing: lol it's not quick) overview of the game; you play as a funny little diver, who woke up in the middle of the ocean and, as the player, are given no clues as to who or what you are. You explore through the ocean levels peacefully at first, and with the guidance of a scarred shark (painted as a bit of an antagonist at first with the audio cues) you make your way to wells at the bottom-center of each level that revitalize the space around them; as they progress, many levels start out as barren, empty landscapes that give you a foreboding, nervous feeling going in, before using an energy from yourself to rekindle the life. Huge coral growths, seaweed, and a myriad of ocean animals spring to life. The player character can also ride on the sides of the bigger ones! The game also puts a big stress on unity between yourself and the environment; there's not a whole lot you can physically interact with, but you can play with the animals there and, like I said before, ride on some of the larger animals. There are also "meditation spots", statues where you can sit and explore the wildlife from more of their point of view, able to follow them seamlessly and see what the different kinds of fish and such are called. It's a calming experience, and really the most interaction you get with some of the more timid animals, letting you still see them up close even if you can't get there as the player character.

The story of the game is told via writings on the walls, which you can light up and access by solving small puzzles regarding connecting reservoirs of glowing waters, similar to that of the almost cosmic area you go to between levels; one thing I read described it as a kind of "rebirth area", which I can definitely see hehe!

At the end of the game, you've held the shark in its dying moments, you've discovered a strange factory that builds the weird triangular prisms that deliver anything that touches them a shock, the little flashlight dudes that you've found over the levels, and little divers that uncannily resemble yourself, and you've seen yourself disassembled to your funny little mechanical skeleton, weak and slow as you try to walk on land, before you are rebirthed from the void-cosmic-water area once again, fully yourself. There's a wonderful ending sequence where you swim through all these rivers, bringing life with you as you go, with the shark once again by your side. The whole game, you saw no land when you poked your head above water, just miles and miles of water, but you've travelled far enough to reach a reservoir. You cut the chains to a central triangular prism, and it grows over with moss. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it, really, it feels like such a... grand gesture as you play through it. It feels personal.

Okay. Theory time. Finally, we're getting into the meat of it. Fucking hell.

So, imagine that you are this being. You're wandering an oceanic wonderland, observing and caring for what you need to, doing as any good little diver should. After a bit of poking around, you discover the start of the engravings on the walls; they tell the story of the people that were here before you, who built these temples and halls and used, or at least stored, the strange blue glowing "water" that you connect and move. It's a water of life, of sorts, one that they truly valued. You come to an impasse between areas, and this massive, scarred-up shark cuts in front of you. You're gonna stay hidden, that thing is terrifying! You try not to move. It doesn't spot you, or at least doesn't move to attack you. However, once it's safely out of view, you do follow it, and it leads you to a dark, desolate, empty chamber. This is wrong, you think to yourself. This isn't how it should be. There's a well, towards the bottom, and you approach it, taking... a fragment of light, from your chest, and imbuing that spark of life into the well. And, lo and behold, that intuition proved helpful, because the world around you springs back to life. Congratulations! You did it! And you continue to, as you work past puzzles and challenges and the appearance of these strange triangular mechanisms, that shock you when you get too close. These people worshipped a shark, as well, likely the same as the one you saw; the guide, now old and scarred, that brings you to where that spark is needed. Even later in the game, you see depictions of the triangular mechanisms, at first heralded as a positive, before these things are found to be the reason for this society's collapse. As if that wasn't perplexing enough, you see a depiction of a being that appears suspiciously similar to yourself, once again treated with reverence from the past civilization. In their hand is a ball of light, similar to the one shown when you revitalize the oceanic chambers. Well, that's certainly odd, you think to yourself. Perhaps this was a being that postponed the death of the civilization, or first allowed for those small chambers of life to exist in captivity instead of the open, natural landscapes you explored at the start. Regardless, it's now a relic of something long gone; but it still gives you something to think about. Later on, that strange coincidence of your similarities to that person are explained; you find a manufacturing plant, full of the vicious triangular mechanisms in each tight hallway, and right at the center of it all... multiple iterations of yourself, running down an assembly line, a spark not unlike what you saw before imbued into each of them. My, look at that; you've been responsible for part of this destruction all along, haven't you? Borne from that same ill that has been forcibly removing that spark from each of the places you've gone to. A bit inconsiderate of you, no? And yet... look at all the good you've done. You've rebirthed, revitalized, purified these ocean fragments, is that not enough? You are the keeper of these waters, regardless of the evil you had come from, despite the terrifying empty things may have reverted to. You, who trusted and followed the shark that seemed so scary at first. You, who followed it as it tried to attack a source of the evil, of the thing that was draining the oceans of their life. You, who held and comforted that shark as it lay dying, despite any fear you may have had. You, who attempted to traverse a minefield of those triangular machines, shocked over and over again and at the final moment, unable to make it to the finish line. You, who was rebirthed in full regardless by the oceans you'd cared for, by the void-sea you always returned to, to rest. You, who traversed a now-ruined citadel, temple, all of which had been flooded and had been dedicated to you. You, who brought life with you.

I hope you see what I'm getting at here. You're serving as a figure not unlike Enki, god and guardian of the waters. In the wake of Abzu, the avatar of the fresh waters, now confined to irrigation canals so as not to kill the younger gods, Tiamat lashes out. Her husband is dead, as far as she is concerned, and she goes to those younger gods to seek her revenge. The dragon, that which sucked the life from the seas and poisoned the waters. That which Marduk killed, to carve new life from. I would say that the shark is Marduk, even; given how the shark is the only one who is openly on the offense to those mechanisms, and who comes in at the endgame to finish them off, bringing new life with it. Even in how it all shapes up with the civilization before, in connection to the constructs; Tiamat was the mother of all in existence at that time. She was surely loved; but she turned hostile and violent. She could no longer be safely loved. And Abzu, both the glowing water we use to open doors and the light that we hold and the deep void-sea we enter between levels and father to all in existence, he was confined to small canals and reservoirs and put in a deep sleep so that he would not kill his own children. And by you, no less. Enki put him there. That is why you can use that water from the start; you lived in the Abzu, you came from it, and each time, that is where you return. That temple, now submerged and decrepit, is Eridu; the place where Enki was most worshipped. The other diver clones are the other gods, or perhaps the "dragons", now, that Tiamat had mothered. The smaller prisms definitely count in that "dragon" category; purely harmful beings that seek to destroy life. And in the end, indeed, you restore life; you and your son, upon killing Tiamat, return life to the world from her body. Perhaps you could not save those who once worshipped you, perhaps those structures will forever be in ruin. But there is no more danger, now; there is space to build and replenish. There is space to grow.

Fuck ok that was long as hell. Hi if u made it this far i love u. god fucking damn im never writing anything again after this. it took about as long as a full playthrough of the game, coincidentally!!

[facelessxchurch]

The primitive aliens that the Faceless Ones have enslaved make no appearance in Bedlam and are not mentioned in SoW or DoA. I'm going to just assume Darquesse annihilated them all. And yes, I instantly deduced a connection between the spiders on the Faceless Ones and the Children of the Spider. I've been waiting for someone else to catch that for literal years lmfao, I was actually hoping the Torment would turn up in SoW, like Mev brought him with him as a prisoner

Ugh, you're probably right about Darquesse genociding the aliens. Ngl I'm so annoyed by the FO in phase 2.

They went from a Lovecraftian Cosmic Threat to to some ugly, passive fucks. Like, instead of being world destroyers that hunted and tortured Skulduggery for sport, they just let themselves get fucked up by Darquesse's ridiculous spirit form. That scene is so stupid, they just watch as she attacks one of their own. While they can't die, it is more a matter of pride. This really isn't what I've been imagining when hearing that Darquesse and the FO were locked in an eternal battle in the ruined Dimension.

They are established to like ruling and be worshipped and to cruelly punish those that oppose them. So, why aren't they teaming up on her, if not to kill her, then to put her in her place and punish her for raising her hand against the gods they are. Why aren't the hunting her down for sport on the regular and torture her for fun like they did with Skul? It's not like they have anything better to do. If they like being worshipped so much, why did they let their pets die? Also, shouldn't Darquesse be theoretically be able to kill them bc her body, aka the dead Reflection, got made magic by soaking her in the same water that made the Godkiller Weapons?

At least that scene was unintentionally funny bc it's literally just this meme:

I can't take these Hydra ass motherfuckers serious anymore tho.

And then there is the whole thing with the FO worshippers being proven right with the FO just shilling in the Malice!Future and occasionally eating some mortal's souls while mages are living in the Utopia the FO followers wanted. That downgraded the FO's threat level so, so much.

The best characters are the active and not the reactive ones, but even calling them reactive would be an overstatement. Landy made the FO passive, he made them boring.

Why would you wait for that? No one in the fandom cares about the FO and their followers (apart from Creed for whatever reason??) and even less about the CotS. At this point, would you be surprised if Landy had forgotten the CotS were ever a thing? That the spider pets are just coincidence? He's pretty unimaginative with monsters tbh. Gigant spiders in Bedlam and giant bats in SoW. Like, seriously? An alien dimension and a dimension filled with magic and that's the best he can come up with?

Ngl I think the CotS in the Leibniz Dimension are all dead since I believe they were all located in their temple(?) within Dublin-Within-The-Wall. If not all, at the very least the Leibniz!Torment is very much dead since I doubt Mev would take the time to send someone to free him from his cage during the draugr attack. I think Leibniz!Eliza is dead too tbh.

Btw, after letting it sink in, the description of the FO also kinda reminded me of the pale man from "Pan's Labyrinth" who actually looks creepy and not silly like the living failures from Bloodborne. I also know Landy is a Del Toro fan, so I'd not actually be surprised should the pale man have served as inspiration for the physical form of the FO. What are your thoughts on that?

Extra meme below the cut:

[hellstenglow]

Fiveya Meta: they need to talk

Endure me, I am on a fiveya-train and my thoughts don’t shut up.

After watching the most recent behind the scene videos of TUA season 2 we can conclude that they did make senseless choices in the plot because in some cases they had to. For example in the case of the snow storm created by Harlan in the final episode, that was added to the script because suddenly there have been a snow storm on the outside set the days before the scheduled filming and they couldn’t clean the place enough, in time for the recording. The snow was added.

I also think they could have written some of the characters better and given them real development (*cough* Luther, Ben *cough*). I wasn’t even a fan of the whole “Vanya lost her memory” thing, but I’ve read that Steve Blackman (the showrunner) doesn’t want to diverge from the original content too much (which is a bit silly to say since they did make major changes since season 1, but okay). I guess that’s why Vanya’s amnesia was still there, although they treated it differently. In the comics it was Mom-Grace who helped Vanya to find herself again and her own value, in the show it was Sissy who did it. I thought it was kind of a hint to the comics the fact Sissy resembled Show-Grace a bit (blond, kind and a mom). Did I think it was unnecessary to have a love interest for Vanya right after season 1? I did, but I justified the choice by thinking that the show wanted to give Vanya a taste of what real love (not like Leonard’s manipulative and abusive love) is supposed to be. I also thought it was a way to show how Vanya needs to stop clinging to the first person who gives her affection, attention and treats her with kindness. I hope she’d realize that and work on herself and family in season 3, first and foremost.

Even with the evident flaws I enjoyed season 2, especially because I decided to treat it as a passing by (detour/digression) chapter in a longer story. All Hargreeves siblings in the ‘60s tried hard to make a new life and ignored their actual life (Allison, Luther, Klaus) or had a convenient amnesia (Vanya) or focused on something too much to lose track of what matters (Diego). Everyone except Ben (who was not treated once again as a full character despite the apparent level up the PR promoted) and Five (who once again was running around in panic mode to stop an apocalypse). Remember Vanya saying, “New timeline, new me.” And Five replying “That’s NOT how it works.”? I may give the writers more credits than it is due, but I hope those two lines were some kind of meta messages for the more attentive viewers. Those two lines can explain perfectly season 2 to be honest.

Nobody can know how long a tv show would run, a fact that expose us to uncertainty. It’s always a gamble trusting writers and showrunners to deliver a good story, but all it’s fair game and one has only to accept it. I do not trust any of them, but I cannot help myself and still hope that they will not ruin everything. With all this said, let’s talk about something I think the show has to tackle in next seasons: Five and Vanya are two points of a theme that needs to be addressed and solved. They need to interact, talk and close their open theme together.

This is not a cohesive meta and I probably will lose myself in too many details, but I hope the message I am trying to convey will arrive. This is only my reading of the show and theories, so you can disagree. I just hope you’d find something interesting and maybe help someone to have a different perspective on what’s going on and where (I pray) the show will go. Here the points I will talk about, if you are in for a very verbose essay, please click on the “keep reading” button. Meanwhile I’ll wear my tinfoil crown and sip some margarita.

Five and Vanya are a theme

It was mean to be Ben

Why the Fiveya’s tension in S2 EP 7’s iconic scene is a symptom of something

I dare to hope in fiveya (at least until proven wrong)  

1. We have a theme: Five wants to stop the apocalypse and Vanya is the apocalypse

It’s a twisted joke of the universe that the very thing Five is obsessed about in season 1 (the apocalypse) was caused by the person he trusted the most (“I’ve decided you’re the only one I can trust” - Five in S1EP1). The red thread that linked Five and Vanya can’t be more evident, that’s one of the reasons why I started shipping them. The family’s dynamic, the siblings’ relationships and bonds are equally important, they add layers and motivations to the story, but if we strip everything else and look at the core, we all know Five and Vanya are at the centre of it.

It’s not a simple coincidence that Five said “I’m the four horsemen”. At first, it’s just a funny line, because Five is drunk and he described himself as those fearsome figures (because he is the best assassin of the whole world and time. Death incarnated in his humble opinion). You don’t take him seriously when he said that line, you don’t pay attention to it.  

However, later it gains a certain degree of truth. Subtly the show tells you that indeed Five is linked deeply to the “apocalypse” (Vanya), as much as the four horsemen (they are the prelude and the bringers of the end) are linked to the apocalypse (in the biblical sense). He lived it. He was trapped there for 45 years. He is obsessed with it. The Apocalypse is his business.

Timid little Vanya is the first person he looked for in the middle of the doomsday’s ruins and arguably his closest friend. On the first day of his return Five only have meaningful talks with Vanya. Five sought her to confide the horror of his memories and share the burden of the truth. He trusted her above everyone else. Then the universe made a laughingstock of him when it was revealed that Vanya caused the Apocalypse. Five didn’t know he was running towards her, despite wanting to go back to his family (her) all his life. 

In the first two episodes of season 1 they made clear that Vanya and Five had an intimate bond in their childhood and still cared for each other after so many years, then the show proceeded to separate them until the finale. They tried so hard to keep them far away from each other during season 1 and we all know everything would have been different if they had time to properly talk, process their situation and find a solution together. Of course, the show didn’t give them that chance, otherwise the show would have ended in episode 3 and goodbye drama!

They did not confront each other in the end of season 1, they let Allison take that role because the show built up their connection as sisters and I didn’t dislike the choice. Did it work thematically? No, Allison has no connection with the apocalypse. That’s Five’s business. He didn’t confront Vanya, he let others take the lead in the most crucial moment and with no surprise the apocalypse still happened.

The other apocalypse in season 2 was still connected to Vanya and again Five ignored the cosmic signals and focused on dead ends. Despite knowing perfectly that the butterfly effect can come from any source, he didn’t even think about Vanya’s being the cause of the apocalypse again. Five should have listened Klaus when he suggested that Vanya might have been the cause. Funny how Klaus told him in S1 that he has an addiction and Five aggressively denied it. Funny how saving his family and stopping the apocalypse are always his top priorities, but Five still deny himself (for a reason or another) the time to confront Vanya (the apocalypse).

We have a theme waiting to be resolved: Five wants to stop the apocalypse and Vanya is the cause of the apocalypse. If Five does not confront Vanya the theme will never have a closure. It’s still open right now. It is still there, waiting to be picked up again. There is no resolution.

2. Vanya and Ben’s goodbye

The scene between Vanya and Ben was one of my favourites from season 2 and after pondering for a while I concluded that it couldn’t have been anyone else but Ben the one who helped Vanya in that moment. My theory is that the show will walk backwards the breaking points of Vanya’s life: Ben’s death, Five’s leaving and Reginald’s abuse.

Vanya is not fixed. How could she when she was barely Vanya in this season? “New timeline, new me” she said, but that was just a convenient escapism mechanism. Years and years of mentally and emotionally abuse don’t disappear in one week. The Hargreeves have still a lot to process and resolve, individually and as family. That’s why I hope the show will progress the story in the right direction and actually work on them in season 3. Especially Vanya, who needs to confront her trauma. That’s why the scene with Ben in episode 9 was necessary.

From Vanya’s book:

[…] Our everyday existence was full of evidence that Dad had [...]-pped into treating us like experiments. Not as children, but like animals. And what happened to Ben was the last straw that finally shattered the illusion for the others …

Ben died long time ago and his death was the last straw that shattered the illusion (for the others) that their father cared about them (even in his own messed up way). Everything changed from that moment and each sibling drifted away from one another after that. Ben’s death was the moment Vanya and the rest of her siblings stopped being a family. The definitive step of Vanya’s alienation from her siblings.

There was no place in the group for her. With Five’s absence and Ben gone (he is a caring brother, with Klaus is like that and I can imagine him being kind to Vanya in their childhood too. Although, Ben is not Five and we have seen him being harsh to her in the flashbacks in S1EP10), Vanya was truly lost.

The tearful and important moment between Ben and Vanya was a reverse moment in my opinion. Vanya needed that from Ben, his death heavily influenced the course of her life (everyone’s life) and it was only fitting that Ben should have been the one helping her to start again. It’s symbolic in a sense, but also very factual.

“Sorry that I left without saying goodbye” – Five, S1 EP2

“At least this time I can say goodbye.” – Ben, S2 EP9

I’m using my fiveya-goggles, but we all thought that what Five said in S1EP2 (when Vanya tried to find him at Hargreeves’ mansion) wasn’t just about him leaving her apartment. It’s a very specific line that works on double levels: text and subtext. The subtext of course refers to the day he run out the house and time jumped. I highlighted these two lines from Five and Ben because I think they share the same theme: leaving her without saying goodbye.

Vanya wasn’t on mission with the team when Ben died, and I doubt she even saw his body (or whatever remains were left) when the Umbrella Academy returned. She didn’t even see his manifestation during the Icarus’ fight, too focused in her own power. The scene between them in Vanya’s mind gave both the opportunity to make amend of untold words and missed moments.

Ben is dead, he is the one he cannot return. His departure is permanent, there is nothing they can do about that. However, they can have a closure. Ben needed to be the one first patching to mend Vanya’s relationship with her family, to remind her that she does belong. This sort of second death (finally move on into the Light) has more meaning than the first one, this time Ben completed the mission. He saved someone he loved (he couldn’t stop Klaus from destroying his life with drugs and alcohol) and could trust his siblings to take care of the rest.

I still think Ben didn’t need to die-die, but in a sense it was time for him to move on into the light. He was afraid to go on, but if he could move on so his siblings. It is time for Vanya to move on her own trauma.

(Yeah, I know. I still have problem with the scene because they erased canon in a way and Ben could do a lot more as character. They erased the fact drugs stop their powers like in Klaus’ addiction and Vanya’s pills, so how Vanya was able to use them under LSD? I tried to explain that to myself by the fact “they needed to bs that canon fact in season 1 and ignored it”.

We can also argue that Ben could have prevented the apocalypse in 2019 by doing the same thing, but in their defence S1-Ben didn’t know he could possess a body. Yeah, how did he do that without Klaus’ power help? No idea, that doesn’t make sense to me either. Ahah. I just swam with the flow at that point and accepted it as it is. Call it the power of superpowered siblings’ love. I’ve seen worse plot holes in my life. I can live with this).

3. Pass me the knife, there is some tension here!

From Vanya’s book:

Though prone to arrogance and outbursts, even more than the average preteen, Five was my sole confidante in the years before he disappeared. It almost seemed fitting […] the siblings to leave us, it would be him who [I fully?] […] who fully trusted me.

I said that Vanya’s walking backwards her life’s breaking points. So, after Ben’s death, she needs to address Five’s leaving. Five was her only confidante in the years before he disappeared, as she wrote in her book. Five was very important to young Vanya (and old Vanya needs to remember that) and I bet when he left, that was a scar never healed.

Vanya missed him and hoped for his return, for a while she kept the lights on in the house every night and prepared for him his favourite sandwich. When Five did come back Vanya couldn’t process that fact properly in season 1, all she could think of was that she didn’t want to lose him again. Five on the other hand decided that he would save everyone on his own and for that choice he made a bunch of tragic rookie mistakes.

Miscommunication is their kryptonite and right now Vanya and Five aren’t able to fully communicate at the same level. Reggie did such a good work at parenting that they’re so unfit to deal with their emotions and relationships, that will always be the root of their mistakes.

Same story in season 2, meanwhile Vanya is on the verge to provoke another apocalypse (although indirectly), as usual Five was too obsessed with his own plans and was not even aware of the situation. He knows nobody is insignificant when it’s about altering the timeline, but he always ends to focus on the wrong lead. The show again did incredible summersaults to avoid the two to interact properly and when they interacted things still didn’t work for a reason or another. She didn’t remember her past, he was not entirely sincere with her. She wanted to start anew (having a family with Sissy, easy-peasy), he is trapped again in a run against time to save his family. They are still not at the same page and for the show that is convenient. They still can play with their open theme (my point number 1 in this meta).

I don’t blame Five in S1 for thinking that if the worse happens, they would need to kill her. I think he was in a very delicate state of mind in that moment, he didn’t have time to process the fact Vanya (his favourite sibling and we all know she is his favourite) caused the end of the world. It was disappointing and cynical, but time was ticking fast, and he had been in his “maniacal-panic” mode for almost eight days. I also think he wouldn’t really kill her; he was the one who convinced the others that they needed to take her with them in the time jump. They need to “fix her” (aka help her to never feel alone in the universe and prove her we do love her) or they’re going to make the same mistakes again and again.

Just to be clear I think if Five wasn’t one day from the end of the world and in a rush to stop Vanya, he would had had the same reaction as Old Man Five in S2. His 14-days younger version take it very well “Fair enough” he said and then proceeded to tell Luther how to save Vanya, no mention about killing her whatsoever. Old Man Five had time (10 days more than our current Five) and a direct clue on how to stop the apocalypse (thanks Luther). Nobody was going to kill Vanya.

“Vanya will always be the cause of the apocalypse, unless we fix her.” - Five S1EP10 

“Vanya is the bomb. She will always be the bomb.” - Diego S2EP8

Vanya is the bomb and she will always be the bomb unless she heals. A fact that can be added to my number 1 point in this meta, there is an open theme and they need to tackle it. Five and Vanya need to confront each other and resolve it.

This takes me to S2 EP7: the iconic stare-power stand between Five and Vanya. THE TENSION was real, and you could cut it with a butter knife. The first time I screamed at my screen, I felt like Gordon Ramsay in one of those episodes of “Kitchen Nightmare US” when someone finally serves him good food.

Of course, the immediate reading of the scene is that Five needed Vanya to come along and Vanya didn’t want to go because at that point these Hargreeves are still strangers to her (amnesia is so convenient), Sissy and Harlan are the ones she knows and loves in that right moment.

They were still able to cut each other with sharp words and hostile glares though. Five let her have what she wanted, not because he feared her, but because as usual he cares more about her feelings than what he would ever admit. It’s the second time in S2 he let her go, his soft spot and favouritism for Vanya was showing once again! *fakes surprise*

I think the tension shown in this scene is a symptom that Vanya and Five are on the verge of something they will (they have to) confront soon or later. This is the subtext reading I came out with.

Even if you don’t look at it with shipper goggle, you feel there is something going on. They let the viewers feel there is a sensitive something whenever these two have an alone scene together. All their alone scenes have a specific grade of intimacy, they made it clear since the scene in front of Five’s portrait. They care for each other, they love each other (sibling love, platonic love, we-could-have-been-something love etc…) and it’s there. However, Five left and Vanya never truly recovered from that. They didn’t process that fact and I truly believe they can’t move on until they heal that scar.

Basically, S2 EP7 Fiveya’s scene = We have to talk, but this is not the moment because the show is only on its second season! THIS TENSION IS HERE FOR A REASON.

4. Hope is the last thing to die

I shouldn’t trust a show, I’ve been disappointed so many times in the past years and showrunners of popular shows tend to be unoriginal and cowards. However, I am an optimist at heart and until season 3 I dare to hope anyway. If proven wrong, there are always fanfictions who can do better job than canon.

If all was lost they could have eliminated Alluther too from the universe because of certain fans screaming “harcest is incest you weirdos”, but Allison and Luther’s situation still exist and still work on the parameter “will they or not”? I imagine for their shippers it was annoying to have such a regression in season 2, but they didn’t destroy it and they still gave them scenes.

Fiveya had even a more subtle situation than Alluther but they’ve been granted the same level of intimate interaction whenever they have an alone scene together. Until Five (the character) will gain an older body (which he can) the whole thing is suspended. However, I think they wouldn’t have been open about the possibility of Five changing back to an older body and spoke about in season 1 if they didn’t have an idea for that.

I brushed off the line Five said to Old Man Five about being forever trapped in his 13-years-old body. It’s canon that there is a way to gain an adult body for Five, the Commission has the technology and even if it’s not the Commission they can mambo-jambo the thing in a way or another. That would never work. The actor is a growing up teenager and from season 1 to season 2 he has already changed. I imagined he will change even more before season 3 will ever start recording (maybe very late due the COVID-19 situation).

Aidan is a fan favourite and I am one of those who can’t see anyone else playing Five, with this said there are still ways for the show to give us fiveya. Young fiveya flashbacks will be always an option to explore the idea of “they had a crush on each other when they were young” and make other viewers understand that it wasn’t all “sibling” love between them. Endgame in a distant season can always have an epilogue with an adult Five (another actor I mean) having a very non-platonic (let adult Fivey kiss please) moment with Vanya, meanwhile building up the longest slow-burn (kinda, deep down I believe those feelings for each other are there) of the century.

Maybe I am wrong, maybe my tinfoil crow is too tight, and my brain doesn’t breathe. Maybe the show will succumb to easy paths and angry bullies. I don’t know, but until proven wrong I dare to hope.

PS: This is a monster of a meta and it probably doesn’t make sense? I hope someone will get what I’ve tried to say. I hope you survive, brave readers. Here a glass of margarita for you. I’d love to hear what you think

[spiritualawakening37]

Decoding the Ancient Language of the Planets and Stars: Learning How to Speak the Native Tongue of Your Soul!

Astrology is much, more than daily, weekly, and monthly horoscopes for your individual sun sign. It’s even more than the mysterious Chinese zodiac articles that you read on your favorite restaurant’s placemat. Astrology is actually a tool that’s been left behind for us all to decode and use to uncover the way that our soul truly communicates to us. If you thought that was deep, it gets even deeper! Astrology is the ancient language of the planets and stars. Why do you think the saying “as above, so below” is not only so popular but truthful? By taking a moment to look up at the cosmos, we can learn a lot about ourselves on an individual level and about the world around us on a macro level. We Weren’t The Only Ones to Discover The Magic That Our Galaxy Has to Offer Us Astrology is very old. Like, really old. Not only did our great grandparents have access to this information, but our great, great, great, great….you get the point! Our ancestors actually relied heavily on this ancient science and treated it just as such rather than taking the “taboo” approach that had been developed the past few thousand years. Across countless cultures all over the world, there are traces of astrology, birth charts, and how they used this ancient language to organize societies. One common theme is revolving around the Sun. If you learned anything in science class it’s that our entire galaxy revolves around the sun. Don’t you think that it’s funny that all of our most successful ancient cultures revolve their calendars around the same blazing ball of light energy? The Egyptians, the Mayans, the ancient Chinese… The list goes on and on. It’s also kind of interesting to think about the fact that you have three major signs or your “Big Three.” This includes your Sun sign (your soul sign), your moon sign (your innermost emotions), and your rising sign (or how you’re perceived in the world). If you don’t even know a lick about astrology, you probably know your Sun sign and didn’t even realize it. That’s the zodiac sign that people know based on your birth date, but again, it gets deeper. Your sun sign explains your soul’s purpose, which is why as you grow in age, you begin to step into your purpose… Or, as your ancestors might like to say, rise like the sun. Another “coincidence” might be that the word “sol” means sun and is pronounced like soul. Coincidence? I think not... So, the question is why wouldn’t you trust something that our great, great, great, great, great, family members relied on so heavily? Applying Ancient Knowledge Is Much Simpler Than It Was Back In The Day When you’re ready to dive into the mysteries of your own birth chart, all you have to do is rely on resources just like these... YouTube has countless videos to study, there are books galore, and the internet has hundreds of websites where you can actually generate your personalized birth chart information. From there, the world is literally yours to decode. Not only will you learn about your Big Three, but there will be so many rabbit holes for you to dive into, you probably won’t know where to start… Thankfully, there are all of these resources right at our fingertips. If we look back to our past civilizations, you would actually learn that astrologists were actually wealthy and considered rare and ethereal. They were called upon by only those in power to help make serious decisions when it came to agriculture, laws of the society, and even when it came to war. Astrologers were a hot commodity because it tools days upon days to draw up charts and make the predictions they needed. The internet wasn’t accessible and resources just like ours were not as easily shared. Nowadays, you can simply pull up your very own Personalized Soul Path Report to learn all about yourself from a cosmic perspective. Mastering Your Soul’s Purpose Starts With Learning All About Your Personalized Soul Language Everyone wants to know why they are here. After reading everything above, you can’t help but wonder what your own personalized astrology has to say about you

and what you came to do. Learning more about your Sun sign starts with understanding more about the eloquent language of the stars, starting with your soul sun sign. >>> Click here to read your Personalized Soul Path Report right now. You’ll be amazed at how little you actually do consciously know about yourself… Not to mention the new things that you’ll discover about who you are! It’s worth a shot, don’t you think? >>> Your Personalized Soul Path Report is waiting for you!

[exaltatuss]

General Info:

Name; ████ Nickname; Ma-Chan Occupation; Scientist Age; ██ Race; Human Gender: Female Height; 172 cm Morality Alignment; Chaotic Neutral Eye Color; Hazel Hair color; Brown Misc; White Streaks on her hair

Personality;

For the most part, Ma-Chan is known as a textbook introvert. Prefers staying indoors, is mostly quiet outdoors, and is so much more expressive towards those she is comfortable with. She’s also the ‘brilliant, but lazy’ type, preferring to either sleep or play video games during her leisure time, to the point others actually question how she got into her profession, in the first place. At least, until they hear her input on things. Still, when she’s feeling it, or during the times where she’s focused, she actually can get things done, getting really into what she had set her sights on, to the point that she ruins her own sleep schedule just to focus on what she’s currently focusing on. 

She’s also one who really enjoys memes, and silly things, sometimes laughing on the most stupid of things, too, and would most certainly get out of her way to spend a good majority of the time on looking for ‘spicy memes’, as she call them. Some can say that her sense of humor is somewhat dark, too, depending on the situation.

However, she does tend to bottle up her emotions, to the point that she doesn’t speak out whenever people did ostracize or berate her if said occasions do happen. This then would sometimes lead to emotionally explosive scenarios when she does reach her breaking point. Hence, she simply does her best to ignore most things that would stress her, and simply do the things that actually help with alleviating her stress.

Backstory;

Born to, or rather, adopted into an above-than-average middle-class lifestyle, Ma-Chan had it easier than others. What with her being well fed, well educated, and taught to be a good person, in general. However, the expectations for her were high, considering that it was found during her early age that she was more intelligent than her other peers, and thus, had to make sure said expectations were met, keeping a good reputation on her earlier school years as much as she could, all while trying to balance out leisure activity, as well.

However, she did experienced her fair share of misfortunes. To start things off on said misfortunes that really left an impact on her, the supposed ‘aunt’ that should supposedly take care of her during her younger years while her mother had to work abroad, didn’t really do good on that department, and did the opposite. In other words, she wasn’t treated well. At least, until such problem was finally found out by other relatives, and got said aunt away from her before things had gotten worse.

Additionally, her choice of peers were, to be fair, while they were fun, not really the absolute best. On one point, they’d be good with her, on another point, she’d be made fun of. Didn’t help that at times, a few of them pressured her on to do some things due to the fact that she found difficulty on turning them down or simply say no, either by shouldering some of their expenses, or outright giving some of her possessions to them, regardless of the fact that she knew that she won’t be able to get a new one to replace the one she had just given away again. Really, guilt tripping her that she’s “more well in life than them” anyway didn’t help.

All these were a good recipe on why she had inner problems to deal with up to this day. She didn’t opened up to anyone, she didn’t see any therapist, at all, hence why there would indeed be problems she had to deal with as it festered on within her, that can sometimes be seen even to this day.

Yet, despite all this, it was, as funny as it sounded, video games that had helped her cope with things, as well as reading stories and all, and listening to music. These are what kept her together.

Come her university life, and she did think that things would be okay now. A new chapter, so to speak. Everything did turned out initially well. New peers, good memories, and the like. But a few years onward, it only really took an a drinking session with said peers that the following few days, almost everyone of those peers were turning on against her, due to one of them accusing her of something she didn’t even do. The only friend that believed she didn’t do what they were accusing her can’t even help her, due to the fact that they’re outnumbered and all that. This then caused her to shut herself off from others completely, just minding her own business, not bothering on actually trying to socialize much, which also took a heavy toll on her academics.

Upon learning that her adoptive mother died eventually did also added to her distraught more, motivation leaving her and all. She did inherit a good amount of money, and land, and other properties to her name, but from where she’s from, even family relatives, if one were unlucky to be part of such a family, do tend to be enemies, or even go so much as to plot the death of another member, all for the inheritance, so that got her worried as well, considering that its only really her mother that’s holding the others back when she was alive.

She did her best to have her academics on a stable route again, with very much of a struggle due to her being so down in the dumps, but she did found her motivation again, however, and eventually slowly built that up, until she had finally gotten things sorted out a bit, as well as finish her studies.

She had to keep forward, after all. If there’s one thing she had learned from her family that she was adopted to, then it was tenacity. She built herself up, slowly, surely, and was able to finally, at the very least, get herself together enough that she wouldn’t be as self-destructive as she was back then.

Additionally, as well, after meeting Ojou-Sama, it actually helped her piece herself back together more and more, until she’s finally able to get back up to her feet properly this time, without slipping and tripping back down, unlike before.

Life may be cruel at times, or would have a very nasty sense of humor, but she had to continue on, after all. Enjoy what she’s doing in her life, ignore most of the things that can potentially drag her down, make sure she stays alive and not resort to the self-destructive tendencies she had been doing. Sure, she still have to deal with her inner problems, but she’s making sure to make a steady progress.

Be All Smiles.

Facts;

-Whenever she introduces herself by name, there would always be interruptions, or loud noises that would mute that out. Really, a funny coincidence that happens all the damn time, hence she resorted to just give out her nickname. ‘Ma-Chan’. It was, of course, taken from one of the games she had been playing on her smartphone, which in turn, is also a nickname given by one of the characters in-game, considering the main character there is only referred to as ‘Master’ and all.

-The white streaks on Ma-Chan’s hair is natural. Or rather, it was brought upon by constant stress. At times, she also jokes that she’s getting old really early, too.

-As shown on the image above, she was given a really wondrous body that people would kill for. She does get teased or get called out on, due to her eye-catching features, but pays no heed to them, really.

-Since she did also inherit a renting business, she does make sure to keep the rent per month on an affordable level, knowing how hard things can be on the country she came from. At times, when she does make sure that the renter can’t pay up for the month, due to any serious reason, she’d give that month free of charge. Sure, its bad business practice, but its better that way, too. Its either lose a portion of income, or see that person have troubles on thinking where they can find a place to stay in again.

-She did also eventually set up her own research facility, too, that helps with the further development of the world for the foreseeable future. While she did reach some scientific milestones, she really doesn’t brag about it, as there’s no real reason to. She’d already proven herself. That’s enough, and no real need to rub it on other people’s faces.

-See, outside of the science stuff, she applies her intelligence over to playing video games, too, what with doing near perfect runs, or outright perfect runs, at her very first attempt of the game, single player-wise. Multiplayer-wise, she does tend to outsmart and outplay others. This wasn’t really a closed secret, anymore, too. Rather, Ma-Chan didn’t care anymore, when people ask her of such, she simply replies with “Maturity doesn’t mean you have to give up what you enjoy. That’s something we all fail to understand, at times.”

-She only has very few peers at this point, seeing that this is outright better than to make peers with as much people as she could, which she did back during her younger years. And out of the very few peers she can count by hand, its Ojou-Sama that she trusts the most.

-And as stated, the reason why she also had very few peers now is that she has this strong inability to say “no”, hence why she keeps her number of peers very limited, as said inability to say “no” would just lead to a wide array of abuse.

-She’s a fan of several shows, anime, and games, that at times, she’d start making references out of them, from out of the blue. Its funny and silly when she does it. But she doesn’t really mind, anymore.

-She’s an avid fan of the works of HP Lovecraft, or cosmic horror, in general, that she can rattle and talk about things related such for hours on end. Well, such knowledge of such did helped, especially when she and Ojou-Sama, are one of the very select few that get to know of the existence of Vacosians, or simply put, Outer Gods, which then made her realize that these weren’t just the works of a man. This was a very concise, depiction and recollection of very real beings, which were projected into his works. Not only that, but she also found out that other worlds with sentient life, as well as straight up universes, exist too, which also proves the Multiverse Theory, as well. Thus, this all happened due to the Noodle Incident involving her, Ojou-Sama, and █████. Hence, they never really talk about it, or refrain from talking about it. Thus, Ma-Chan keeps a tight lip of their existence. Her only dismay is that horror games wouldn’t be as scary anymore, though.

[raeofalbion]

Rules: List 5 quotes from various fics you love and link to the fics! Quotes can be short or long. Tag as many people as you want! (tagged by @leafenclaw - thanks so much! :D)

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tagging: Idk who I follow and who follows me who hasn’t done this yet, so, if you want to do it, go for it and please tag me so I can see!

Okay, so I’ve decided to twist the rules a little and use this as a rec list for my current top five Sherlock fics and my top three Fable fics, in no particular order, so people who follow me for either fandom have something to go through. Under the cut because...long.

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BBC Sherlock

Inevitable Destruction by @jimswestwood (formerly Dionysisch)

(Ao3; Sheriarty) Bored, Jim invites Sherlock into his home, Sherlock decides to stay. — It’s a beautiful 4 part oneshot series that deals heavily with existentialism and wanting, framed in an almost elegant, bordering on philosophical light. Oh and it makes me cry. It makes me cry a lot.

Sometimes it would hit him so hard it became painful even to breathe. The meaninglessness of it all. It all dissolved into the same ephemeral prettiness of clouds, of smoke, of things that could fascinate but hold no substance at all, vanish at the touch. The air in his lungs, the wall he kept staring at. Himself. The words flowing through his brain. Nothing. Just a casual connection, weak strings giving intolerable heaviness to sounds and letters. In the end, the more he repeated something, the more he realized emptiness. Sounds rolling in his mouth numbing his palate, as he took another mask, another voice, another self - an evocation of something he forgot along the way, and in which he forgot part of himself.

Bored, bored, bored. Bored.

His thin lips part slightly, tongue darting gently over scabs of a tormented nature, sign of a certain carelessness betraying a polished image in all its destructiveness. “Bored,” Jim repeats, again. Just a murmur. Gentle, quiet, making sure not to disturb the non-existent life in a bubble of static silence. It makes him think of grey, grey dullness, something like quicksand but gripping at his brain and his heart and paralyzing him until he cannot breathe and exploding into a million pieces sounds like the most tolerable image. Scattering himself like cosmic dust. He wonders if, in that case, he would give life to other stars or just decay. Once more. 

-

Not Until Then by @jamlocked​

(Ao3; Sheriarty, Sherlock/James Moriarty) After Sherrinford, Sherlock goes to see Jim’s brother. What follows is in no way straightforward. — There was a three-way tie for me between this fic, Daemon, and Between Shadows and Sunlight, but this fic. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it and I still can’t say for certain what I think is really happening. It’s gorgeous, elusive, and I love how much it makes me think. Jam’s a master at well-crafted, incredibly twisty plots and I’m just...endlessly fascinated by this one.

Sherlock watches his chest stop moving. David’s head tilts a fraction, like he’s listening to a far-off sound. And then…

…and then, his left hand moves to his left knee. It’s an instantly familiar gesture, one burned into Sherlock’s hard drive. Every other thought falls away. Sherlock feels his eyes widen and his mouth drop open, a gasp stuck behind his teeth. The cold, the silence of the country, the light of the windows, all melt to nothing as he watches David ripple his fingers (beats like digits) over his bent leg, pushing a slight emphasis on the roll of his thumb.

For a few seconds, he can’t breathe. His eyes snap up to David’s face - and it is David’s face, it is, but all he can see is Jim. Jim sitting there with his eyes closed and his hair a mess, slumped in exhaustion but still, always, drumming his own beat. Except that wasn't his beat, that was theirs. He knows of no one else who ever saw Jim make that move, and there’s no reason anyone ever should. That was part of their game.

He whirls to the side, back into darkness. His shoe makes a noise as it shifts on the gravel, but it barely registers. He blinks rapidly, playing the movement back, checking he saw what he thought he saw, not just what he wanted. Why would he want that? (Except wasn’t that his secret hope, wasn’t he sad when he realised he was wrong?) He doesn’t want that. It was just…

Logic. Logic. They’re brothers. He doesn’t know what characteristics they shared, and he doesn’t know when they last talked. There are any number of explanations; indeed, they’re lining up in his brain, each one ready to squash down the live-wire burst of shock. Coincidence (rarely so lazy), or wishful thinking, or his brain overlaying a strong moment from his past onto something innocuous.

Sherlock breathes out, and looks back through the window. David is rinsing the plates at the sink, ready for the dishwasher. Just a too-thin, tired man. Sherlock calms himself, and walks back around the house to let himself back in. He has to see this through. He has to know what he’s doing here, and then there’ll be no need to come back.

-

To What End? by collaborativesheriartyparty

(Ao3; Sheriarty) Texting, drinks, and...something more. Unique. Possibly dangerous. Definitely addicting. — I don’t know what to say about this series that someone else hasn’t already said but gods, they (the writers) are so good. There’s a depth and a complexity and a lovely, wonderful vulnerability to how both of them write their respective characters and watching Jim and Sherlock’s relationship unfold feels incredibly intimate and, at times, like I should have given them a bit of time alone. It’s fantastic. <3

Sherlock had a funny way of getting revenge, of paralyzing his enemy.  Jim appreciated it.  Why do with effort what could be done with a whisper?  The nights he’d dreamt of the detective had transformed his mornings, either giving him a renewed sense of patience or a real urge to get creative in his ventures.  Jim had wanted to give Sherlock every chance to notice him, and chase him down.  If Sherlock slipped cuffs on his wrists right now with a ‘gotcha’, would it be worth it? Yes. “I think…” Jim murmured, his tongue darting out to wet his suddenly dry lips and, oops, brushing Sherlock’s lobe in the process, “that you should be texting John.” How he managed sing-song just now was a bloody feckin’ wonder.  Maybe because he only took John so seriously.  “Telling him you’ll be home…soon,” Jim continued, tone back to a distracted drawl, and took another deep inhale of Sherlock, his leg almost brushing the other’s now.  To Jim, they were the only people in the bar right now, in the world.  His eyes had closed, and it took every effort to keep his hands off Sherlock. “Instead of starting something you don’t want to finish.”  He’d intended warning, but somehow it had turned out sounding like a challenge.

-

Circadian Disruption by @like-the-direction

(Ao3; Sheriarty) They are many things--brilliant, determined, enemies, lovers, human only in looks--and, if Molly has any say in it, soon they’ll also be free. — It was a tie for me between this series and Corpus Callosum--both invoke similar levels of internal joyful screaming, but I seem to recall CC being recced recently, so I thought it might be a good idea to rec this one. And oh, gods, what to say about these fics. They’re so incredibly well written--the prose is beautiful and feels impeccably well-thought out. There’s so many layers to everything that it’s impossible for me to read without finding myself just sitting there, wondering. And crying. This one makes me cry, too.

“Do you dream of waterfalls?”

Sherlock pauses mid-step.

“Waterfalls,” Moriarty says, hushed, “and a precipice.  You, and me.”  There is something in his voice, a quiet heartbreak, and it cracks ever so slightly when he asks, “Do you dream of falling?”

Slowly, Sherlock turns.  Moriarty is deadly serious when he meets his eyes.

“Victorian clothing,” he goes on, while the image - the recurring dream Sherlock has had since the day he met James Moriarty face to face - begins to form in his mind’s eye.  “Me, all in black.  You, wearing that fucking--”

“Deerstalker,” Sherlock says in unison with him, unsure what is happening, but feeling in his bones that it is significant, important somehow.  Moriarty nods a bit, and Sherlock slowly continues, “I...refer to you as--”

“‘Professor,’” Moriarty finishes with him, and Sherlock is dimly aware of his pulse rising as he makes his way back toward Moriarty at the ledge.  His adversary’s eyes briefly appear wet, but it’s difficult to tell in the light.  Moriarty says, “We stand at the cliff’s edge, and I ask you something.  I ask, ‘Shall we--’”

“‘Shall we go over together?’” Sherlock whispers with him.  They are standing so close.  Sherlock can see his reflection in Moriarty’s eyes.  “Why do you know that?” he asks faintly, looking between his twin reflections.  “How could you know that?”

“You tell me, Detective.”

It’s a test - Moriarty knows, certainly he knows - but Sherlock thinks he may, as well.  “It...wasn’t a dream.”

-

dinner by @very-trivial​

(Ao3; Jimcroft) Mycroft Holmes is a dangerous man--mysterious, isolated. Sherlock and Jim are convinced he’s secretly a top government official, but they can’t begin to comprehend the scale of his power. To clarify: Mycroft Holmes is a food critic. — This fic never fails to cheer me up. It’s lovely and the descriptions of food, as well as the character interactions, are so amazingly spot-on. Jim and Sherlock’s insistence that Mycroft is a scary government-man is surprisingly funny, particularly alongside Mycroft’s worry that they’ll figure out what his job really is. Also, the end is oddly heartwarming? The whole thing is just really good.

“You’re a crit-”

A hand slapped over Jim’s mouth.

Despite everything Jim now knew about Mycroft Holmes, in this very moment, he looked scarier than ever.

“I’ll tell you everything, but not a single word passes through your mouth - not now, not ever,” the man hisses, sotto voce. The silencing hand did not relent one millimeter as he pressed on. Jim was starting to regret seating them in a corner booth away from prying eyes.

“If my identity so much as appears as a  rumor  on the D-list food  vlogs  , I will make sure you never eat in this town again. You’ll never be able to order  curry  without wondering if the dish has been tampered with. Maybe poison, maybe they just spit in it. I have clout in this world, Jim Moriarty, and you don’t. You put my name out there and  I will use it  . I have friends in high places,  sir , and they owe me favors. I’ve made careers, I’ve launched veritable nobodies into international stardom. Don’t think for one moment you’ll ever be able to set foot into any decent restaurant again if you cross me. You'll live off cheap instant noodles for the rest of your life. Not even the good Korean kind.”

--

Fable

The Sergeant by deadpan riot

(FFN; m!Sparrow & Reaver) Reaver returns home from Samarkand to find Sparrow has usurped his home. Oh, and Sparrow has a new pet. — First things first: I adore deadpan riot’s Sparrow; our Sparrows are somewhat similar, so it makes this fic (well, actually series but the series isn’t up in full) a really easy read for me. This fic balances out the ridiculousness and hilarity of poorly-paired roommates (with a pet balverine) and the solemnity and almost depression that comes from everything that happens in Fable II and all the choices one makes but still manages to keep the story lighthearted and well-paced.

"Did you know, my dear boy, that that beast of yours has, in fact, retained a marginally functional knowledge of the human language? Illiteracy aside, of course…" Reaver toyed with one of the bottles nearest him, watching the hero through his bangs. Smiles had again gone to try his luck at bottle roulette.

"Well, yea, I guessed as much since he does tend to listen to me…But what the hell are you two doing?" Sparrow was now coming down the stairs, prompting Reaver to stretch languidly across them.

"Whiling away my time banished to the foyer, what else?"

Sparrow stopped on the step above Reaver, eyeing the pirate, the bottles, and the general disarray of the room at large. "So 'whiling away the time' includes turning all the pictures upside down as well?"

Reaver cast a glance at the reversed paintings. "As a matter of fact it does, oddly enough."

-

Snow and Stones by Lilith Encodead

(FFN; f!Sparrow/Reaver) Reaver hears rumours that someone new has taken control of Bloodstone only to find Sparrow and a cursed snowglobe waiting for him. — Considering I prefer platonic Sparrow and Reaver fics, you might be surprised to learn this is my favourite Fable fic of all time. And it kills me that it’s not complete. Lilith creates such an amazing atmosphere in here and there’s such a gravity to the fic that everything, even the lighter moments, just seem to carry a lovely weight to them. The way she writes Sparrow and Reaver is gorgeous too, and I just...Lilith, wherever you are, please??? finish??? fic??? D: Please???

"I'm not going to play your stupid little game." she sneered slowly. "If you want answers - look around."

Reaver did not move. He did not speak. Then, ungraciously he eased his grip, before giving his pistol one last shove into her head. Her fontanelle was knocked back into the stone Cullis Gate, as the force reverberated through her skull. With an aching head and blurred vision, Sparrow watched him rise up and survey his surroundings.

Reaver examined the hauntingly empty area briefly, before looking straight back at Sparrow, as if averting his eyes from something disgustingly gory. Around the two of them were the smashed remains of once mighty stone ruins covered in ivy and surrounded by dandelion weeds. Jagged lumps of stone nested the Cullis Gate, depicting faded carvings of the Old Religion bleached by sun and faded with time. A standalone rock archway stood crumbling in front of them; beyond which was a chalky white path leading down to the town.

Every water, every cell, of Reaver's body could sense a foreboding danger through the archway, down the dusty path, and back to his past.

"This is a trick." he insisted. "An elaborate deception fabricated by a vindictive Will-user."

Sparrow remained sat on the Cullis Gate, knowing that Reaver would knock her down again if she gave another dissatisfactory answer.

"Its not." she said simply, as if talking to a child that should know better. "You know it's not."

-

That Which Moves the Stars by ingresviolin

(Ao3; f!HoBW/Reaver, f!HoBW/Ben Finn) Beatrice, empath and princess, embarks on a quest to find her missing father shortly after her mother’s death. — It’s still in early days, but there’s something very charming and curious about this fic. I love that the quest is mainly research-based so far and that all the characters have a wonderfully defined depth and clarity. I’m so curious and excited to see how it all comes together in the end.

"You look very young for being very old," Beatrice whispered at a nearly inaudible level. Her mother and Logan did not catch the comment, but both men at the table did. Reaver glared at her with the same menacing expression as earlier that day, but his eyes were darker than before. Beatrice felt an internal prickle of excitement: her favorite feeling.

She didn't need to touch Reaver to know he was upset, but as his glare darkened her excitement turned to fear. She could see her own image in the darkness of his pupils, as well as the glowing flames of the fireplace behind her. And she could have sworn to Avo that the two were not separate, but that the Beatrice-shaped homunculus at the center of the tiny conflagration in his eyes was being burned alive.

[punainenpuolukka]

Oh, the Thing with the Ghosts, the Boys, and the Car?

Now that season 15 premiere is airing tomorrow, which I realized merely a week ago, I thought I’d like to celebrate it somehow, since the show that has meant so much to me and so many others is finally coming to an end. As a form of celebration I thought I’d like to take this unique opportunity to discuss Supernatural in general, what it has meant to me, and maybe tell a funny story or two that are at least somewhat related to Supernatural. And because Supernatural itself is so long, I decided to make this a longer series as well, each part focusing on a different topic with various levels of depth since there’s only so much I have to say some things. At the moment I have four or five topics in mind (or 12 after I started making an actual list and like half of them have great potential), and at the time of publishing Part 1 I have written three of them. The parts will be in no particular order and most have little to no connection with one another, I think. I try to keep them light and funny but since I myself am neither of those things, some might get a bit bleak. Also, I try to avoid making too many awkward confessions or rants and if I can’t avoid them, I’ll try extra hard to be funny or at least give the parts moderately entertaining titles because I’m moderately entertaining, and I just realized that awkward confessions would probably be the funniest thing I could possibly write. 

I’d also like to apologize that the first part got so bloated. Turns out, I have more things to say about Sam than I thought.

Part 1. Much Ado about Sam – I’ve had some problems but now I’m over them, I guess

Now hear me out, I like Sam Winchester. I like him very much exactly for the same reasons as everyone else likes him: he’s a good man who has had to fight tooth and nail, often quite literally, to be a good man, and to keep trying to be that good man when it would be easier to not be. Sure, sometimes he falters, sometimes he falls very far, but he chooses time and time again to be the good man we want him to be. Sam’s arguably the best at trying to be that good man; he has sacrificed everything from his life, his sanity, his freedom to his family and loved ones. And if he wasn’t ready to sacrifice them they were taken from him anyway. The whole universe has basically beaten him to the ground over and over again and he still stands up and continues to fight the good fight. He and his family have carried the world on their shoulders for so long the thought that it is not their responsibility is inconceivable. Gotta admire that tenacity. 

Sam is also kind and compassionate and understands like no other what it’s like to be the Other, and he can’t help but relate with those who have been othered like him. He wants to believe in the inner goodness of others and give second chances because he himself has gotten multiple chances to be and do better, and someone has always believed in the good within him. Alternatively, he can also be the meanest, scariest motherfucker ever if he needs to be, and in those moments he is so cold and cruel that you can hardly believe he’s the same person. And I haven’t even written how hardworking and intelligent he is or what an amazing hunter he is, a true living legend (who has admittedly been dead multiple times but who’s counting anyway, he’s alive now). 

Frankly, Sam is awesome. So why on earth wouldn’t someone like him?

Well, I can explain, I say as I really don’t know how to explain why I have had problems liking Sam. Or more accurately, I have occasionally had to make an effort to actively like Sam, especially during the early seasons, though since Supernatural is so long ‘early season’ can in my mind mean anything up till the very last few seasons. Before I continue, I feel like I should clarify that I have never hated or even disliked Sam, but he has certainly made me sad and disappointed in him because of all those previously presented reasons. I know he can be better and I wish him to be happy, even for just a while. Sometimes he just ticks as neutral. And when such a multifaceted character like Sam is ‘neutral’ there is a problem somewhere.

The thing is, and I'm aware how extremely silly this is, but there are some unfortunate coincidences concerning Sam that my weird brain interprets to his detriment. For instance, Sam was born May 2nd 1983 and my own brother was born May 3rd 1984, which somehow cosmically connects the two of them in my barely functioning brain, and no matter what I do I can’t stop thinking about them in relation to each other (as in when I think about Sam, my brain goes: “... and my brother, he’s almost the same age, so he belongs to this thought, right?” or when the discussion is about Sam’s birthday my brain immediately goes: “... and my brother’s the next day that’s important, just year and a day apart, can’t believe it”). However, my brother and Sam have nothing in common outside that year and two days of age difference (i believe 1984 was a leap year), and you know, one of them isn’t real.  So, due to some awkward and partially fictional dates, my brain is somehow convinced that Sam is automatically less than (my big brother, a real person who should not be compared to a fictional person with the suckiest life imaginable), and when someone is less than, that means I can’t like them, at least not as much as I feel I should, right? But until my brain gets past that people have birthdays, every day in fact, and that it has no significance whatsoever, I have to live with this weird coincidence (and my brain chimes: “... my friend’s birthday is November 2nd, that’s impor – “ no, just stop). 

If the last one was silly to the extreme, then the next one’s heavy: the demon blood issue. I understand that the whole deal with Sam drinking demon blood is a blatant allegory of substance abuse and drug addiction, and it’s a low point for him as a character on purpose, but it’s still difficult to watch, and even harder to talk about. I don’t want to talk about it at all. I don’t want to think about it all. Anytime anyone brings up the demon blood drinking and the powers Sam got from it (or the powers he had before that) I become irrationally angry and just shut down. I’m not upset that the demon blood thing happened, I’m upset that it was brought up in the first place and that there’s still some people after all this time who long for the days Sam was portrayed with such exceptional, raw, and frightful power. And here is where I disagree: to me Sam as himself, as the human that he is, is the gold standard. I don’t miss him having powers because all I can truly remember of that time is how it almost cost him his humanity. It was his lowest point in a time that was only getting progressively worse even without him spiraling into addiction. And then we saw how all for nothing it was. All that demon blood couldn’t keep Lucifer at bay, and for a brief moment all was lost. But in the end it was shown that Sam could only win as himself. So I don’t miss Sam’s powers or the demon blood drinking. It happened, it’s in the past, Sam is better now. Sam is better because he beat his addiction, he is better because he doesn’t need the powers to save lives or be the best hunter he could be, and he is better because with that whole thing behind him, he is better at being himself. I mean, there’s lots of bad things ahead of him, like the soullessness, the trials, the angel possession...you know what show you’re watching, I don’t have to do a recap. But Sam gets past all of them too, so not only is he coping with what is thrust his way, admittedly not always particularly well, he is allowed to get better. And very recently, but again, I have no concept of time when it comes to this show, Sam has started to let go of that cursed codependency that has plagued the show from the very beginning and allowed himself to get better and be better at being just himself. There’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.

I feel like I cannot press this enough, but to me Sam has been the very best for the last few seasons. When I think about him, it feels like I can finally breathe properly after my chest has been squeezed for years. The relief I felt after being anxious about him for so long came to me so gradually that I didn’t even realize there was a change until what had previously felt right suddenly felt wrong, and I realized I had grown accustomed to that feeling so I just assumed it was right when in fact it was not. And through the relief that I didn’t have to worry about Sam constantly came what at the time felt like a revelation: Sam is amazing, I like Sam and have liked him the whole time but for some reason thought that I couldn’t. It just snuck up and hit me on the head with same force that Sam gets hit with all the time (seriously, what’s up with his skull). I even felt ashamed when I thought I didn’t like him, which seems silly, but I know this fandom, people have had issues with other fans for much less.

In conclusion, despite the silly and heavy reservations I have had about Sam, he is made of awesome, and only through time have I understood how wonderful he is and how my capability to relate to him is so intrinsically connected to the worry for his safety that it had nearly incapacitated me from liking him. Not until I realized how that constant worrying had affected me and kept me from truly appreciating both him and the whole show, could I finally see what I really thought of Sam. Regardless, I’m excited for what will happen to Sam in the last season. I want him to beat the odds one last time, I want him to get to keep the family he still has left, and I want him to get all the things he deserves. And he deserves so much.

[pank0079]

Decoding the Ancient Language of the Planets and Stars: Learning How to Speak the Native Tongue of Your Soul!

Astrology is much, more than daily, weekly, and monthly horoscopes for your individual sun sign. It’s even more than the mysterious Chinese zodiac articles that you read on your favorite restaurant’s placemat. Astrology is actually a tool that’s been left behind for us all to decode and use to uncover the way that our soul truly communicates to us. If you thought that was deep, it gets even deeper! Astrology is the ancient language of the planets and stars. Why do you think the saying “as above, so below” is not only so popular but truthful? By taking a moment to look up at the cosmos, we can learn a lot about ourselves on an individual level and about the world around us on a macro level. We Weren’t The Only Ones to Discover The Magic That Our Galaxy Has to Offer Us Astrology is very old. Like, really old. Not only did our great grandparents have access to this information, but our great, great, great, great….you get the point! Our ancestors actually relied heavily on this ancient science and treated it just as such rather than taking the “taboo” approach that had been developed the past few thousand years. Across countless cultures all over the world, there are traces of astrology, birth charts, and how they used this ancient language to organize societies. One common theme is revolving around the Sun. If you learned anything in science class it’s that our entire galaxy revolves around the sun. Don’t you think that it’s funny that all of our most successful ancient cultures revolve their calendars around the same blazing ball of light energy? The Egyptians, the Mayans, the ancient Chinese… The list goes on and on. It’s also kind of interesting to think about the fact that you have three major signs or your “Big Three.” This includes your Sun sign (your soul sign), your moon sign (your innermost emotions), and your rising sign (or how you’re perceived in the world). If you don’t even know a lick about astrology, you probably know your Sun sign and didn’t even realize it. That’s the zodiac sign that people know based on your birth date, but again, it gets deeper.

                              Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Your sun sign explains your soul’s purpose, which is why as you grow in age, you begin to step into your purpose… Or, as your ancestors might like to say, rise like the sun. Another “coincidence” might be that the word “sol” means sun and is pronounced like soul. Coincidence? I think not... So, the question is why wouldn’t you trust something that our great, great, great, great, great, family members relied on so heavily? Applying Ancient Knowledge Is Much Simpler Than It Was Back In The Day When you’re ready to dive into the mysteries of your own birth chart, all you have to do is rely on resources just like these... YouTube has countless videos to study, there are books galore, and the internet has hundreds of websites where you can actually generate your personalized birth chart information. From there, the world is literally yours to decode. Not only will you learn about your Big Three, but there will be so many rabbit holes for you to dive into, you probably won’t know where to start… Thankfully, there are all of these resources right at our fingertips. If we look back to our past civilizations, you would actually learn that astrologists were actually wealthy and considered rare and ethereal. They were called upon by only those in power to help make serious decisions when it came to agriculture, laws of the society, and even when it came to war. Astrologers were a hot commodity because it tools days upon days to draw up charts and make the predictions they needed. The internet wasn’t accessible and resources just like ours were not as easily shared. Nowadays, you can simply pull up your very own Personalized Soul Path Report to learn all about yourself from a cosmic perspective. Mastering Your Soul’s Purpose Starts With Learning All About Your Personalized Soul Language Everyone wants to know why they are here. After reading everything above, you can’t help but wonder what your own personalized astrology has to say about you and what you came to do. Learning more about your Sun sign starts with understanding more about the eloquent language of the stars, starting with your soul sun sign.

>>> Click here to read your Personalized Soul Path Report right now.

You’ll be amazed at how little you actually do consciously know about yourself… Not to mention the new things that you’ll discover about who you are! It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?

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